DOE Awards $47 Million to IT and Communications Sectors

Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $47 million for 14 projects across the country to support the development of new technologies

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Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $47 million for 14 projects across the country to support the development of new technologies that can improve energy efficiency in the information technology (IT) and communication technology sectors. The data processing, data storage, and telecommunications industries are a crucial part of the American information economy. The rapid growth of these industries has led to an increase in electricity use, but improvements in the sector's energy efficiency can provide significant energy and cost savings. These energy-efficiency projects will reduce energy use and carbon pollution, while helping to develop a strong, competitive domestic industry.

“These Recovery Act projects will improve the efficiency of a strong and growing sector of the American economy,” says Chu. “By reducing energy use and energy costs for the IT and telecommunications industries, this funding will help create jobs and ensure the sector remains competitive. “The expected growth of these industries means that new technologies adopted today will yield benefits for many years to come.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing funding for research, development and demonstration projects in three subject areas. Projects may include aspects of more than one topic area.

Equipment and Software: These projects will focus on the core components of a data or telecommunications center, such as servers and networking devices as well as software to optimize equipment energy use.

Power Supply Chain: These projects will develop technologies to minimize the power loss and heat generation that occurs as electricity moves through the ever growing number of server-based IT and communications systems.

Cooling: This effort will seek to demonstrate ways to cool the equipment used in IT and telecommunications work more effectively and with less power than current methods.

The $47 million in federal funds for these projects will be matched by more than $70 million in private industry funding, for a total project value of more than $115 million.

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